OH Supreme Court Ruling Affects Mineral Rights Claims in Old Deeds

The Ohio Supreme Court issued a decision in a case we previously did not know about, one with the potential to affect landowners and drillers. In the case Faith Ranch & Farms Fund, Inc. v. PNC Bank, the Supremes ruled that a former Harrison County landowner did NOT reserve underground oil and gas rights in a 1953 deed that mentioned coal and “other minerals.” Using the phrase “other minerals” may refer to oil and gas, but that isn’t necessarily the case, the justices said in a 6-1 ruling. The phrase was considered in relation to how it’s contextualized in a deed, one of the justices wrote.

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